Introduction:

Lower gastrointestinal bleeding accounts for up to 2% of hospital admissions for acute conditions; the small bowel is responsible for 95% of these cases. When the bleeding site differs, the 5% -the so-called bleeding of obscure origin- represents a diagnostic challenge that will require more time, further research and multidisciplinary care. If the gastrointestinal bleeding of unknown origin manifests abruptly, without giving time to the use of any other resources, we should ignore the conservative path and take immediate action to help eradicate something unknown, whose location and behavior are uncertain, similar to a ticking time bomb.

Case description:

We report this case involving a patient with an intestinal tumor, which initially manifested by bleeding of obscure origin and later progressed into severe gastrointestinal bleeding.